[NOTE: A more detailed account of the 85th Pennsylvania at the Battle of Williamsburg, with numerous primary source accounts, is found in my book, Such Hard and Severe Service: The 85th Pennsylvania in the Civil War published by Monongahela Books of Morgantown.]
Williamsburg in Virginia is of course well known for a 300-acre living-history 18th century colonial village that is a top tourism attraction in the commonwealth. The former Virginia capital is lesser known as the site of a significant Civil War battle in 1862.
Perhaps because of the popularity of Williamsburg as a colonial tourist destination, the city's Civil War significance has often been overlooked.
Williamsburg in Virginia is of course well known for a 300-acre living-history 18th century colonial village that is a top tourism attraction in the commonwealth. The former Virginia capital is lesser known as the site of a significant Civil War battle in 1862.
Perhaps because of the popularity of Williamsburg as a colonial tourist destination, the city's Civil War significance has often been overlooked.
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| 85th PA (green) approaches Fort Magruder Modern Map Overlay of Williamsburg Battle Courtesy of Williamsburg Battlefield Association |
But that appears to be changing. The American Battlefield Trust website notes that 69 acres of the Civil War battle site have been preserved. The website states, "Much of the battlefield has been lost to development along U.S. Route 60, but historic markers along the side of the highway tell the story of the battle. Fort Magruder, one of the Confederate defensive positions, remains today on Penniman Road east of town and is marked by a stone monument and some interpretive waysides."
The Williamsburg Battlefield Association is currently involved in efforts to preserve 29 additional acres of the battlefield with a long-term goal of saving 400 acres of undeveloped land.
Williamsburg was the site of the first pitched battle of the the Peninsula Campaign that involved over 70,000 troops. It was also the first engagement for the 85th Pennsylvania,
The Williamsburg Battlefield Association is currently involved in efforts to preserve 29 additional acres of the battlefield with a long-term goal of saving 400 acres of undeveloped land.
Williamsburg was the site of the first pitched battle of the the Peninsula Campaign that involved over 70,000 troops. It was also the first engagement for the 85th Pennsylvania,
The battle was fought on May 5, 1862. Major General George B. McClellan had spent a month placing siege guns around Confederate forces at Yorktown. He anticipated bombarding the position into submission and ending the Civil War at the same site where George Washington's Continental Army along with significant French land and sea forces had accomplished a victory over the British 81 years earlier to effectively win the American Revolution.
But when McClellan opened up a barrage upon Yorktown on May 4, it was discovered that General Joseph Johnston's Confederate command had abandoned the fort, retreating up the Virginia peninsula between the York and James Rivers towards Richmond.
Confederate General James Longstreet was tasked with delaying McClellan's Army of the Potomac which was in pursuit to allow time for Johnston's supply wagons to clear the area. The battle of Williamsburg, mainly involving the Union divisions of Joseph Hooker and Phillip Kearney, focused around the Confederate position at Fort Magruder, and ended with no decisive winner. Casualties totaled about 4,000 soldiers, about 56% on the Union side.
The role of the 85th Pennsylvania was minimal. As the battle raged, their regiment was called up in a reserve capacity. They forged ahead to within sight of Fort Magruder and were halted. They fired a musket round at an unseen target through the trees. They were shelled, but most of the Confederate projectiles landed harmlessly behind them.
The 85th Pennsylvania suffered two casualties. Captain John Morris of Company F suffered a minor injury as he was grazed by a shell fragment in the cheek. However, Sergeant Daniel Miller of Company K lost his legs when hit by another shell. He spent three agonizing weeks in a hospital before finally dying in early June.
Although they did not play a consequential role, Williamsburg was important to the 85th Pennsylvania for several reasons. First, it was their initial taste of being fired upon and witnessing dead and wounded soldiers.
But when McClellan opened up a barrage upon Yorktown on May 4, it was discovered that General Joseph Johnston's Confederate command had abandoned the fort, retreating up the Virginia peninsula between the York and James Rivers towards Richmond.
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| Robert Know Sneden 1862 Map of Fort Magruder LOC |
The role of the 85th Pennsylvania was minimal. As the battle raged, their regiment was called up in a reserve capacity. They forged ahead to within sight of Fort Magruder and were halted. They fired a musket round at an unseen target through the trees. They were shelled, but most of the Confederate projectiles landed harmlessly behind them.
The 85th Pennsylvania suffered two casualties. Captain John Morris of Company F suffered a minor injury as he was grazed by a shell fragment in the cheek. However, Sergeant Daniel Miller of Company K lost his legs when hit by another shell. He spent three agonizing weeks in a hospital before finally dying in early June.
Although they did not play a consequential role, Williamsburg was important to the 85th Pennsylvania for several reasons. First, it was their initial taste of being fired upon and witnessing dead and wounded soldiers.
Corporal William Elliott Finley described the role of his his regiment.
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| Corporal William Elliott Finley from A Soldier's Life (1867) |
"Just in front of it [the regiment] lay an open space which must be crossed to gain the woods beyond where the rebels were concealed. Sweeping across this, it caught the enemy's fire. A shell from Fort Magruder went hissing through its ranks and exploding, a fragment struck Captain [John] Morris upon the cheek. He only grew a little whiter and marched sternly on while the blood spurted from the wound. A little farther on, a rifle shot struck a Company 'K' man [Sergeant Daniel Miller] and uttering a cry threw up his hands, staggered and fell. Many a heart beat faster;many a cheek grew paler. They had seen the first man fall in battle."
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| Colonel Joshua B. Howell |
Secondly, the regiment remembered their colonel, Joshua B. Howell, boldly volunteering his regiment when a superior officer asked for a regiment to rush to the battle site.
Private Milton McJunkin of Company D wrote home that, “Well we moved off double quick until we got on an open field joining the
woods…While standing there, Genr’l Sumner rode up in great haste and hollowed
Col. have you a regt you can rely upon. The old col without takeing time to give him an answer yelled out forward 85th. So we started off double quick down the road
to the scene of action. The old Col was rideing back and forth along the line with a
smile on his face, saying now me boys give them the bayonet.” [Ron Palm, Richards Sauers and Patrick Schroeder, The Bloody 85th: The Letters of Milton McJunkin, a Western Pennsylvania
Soldier in the Civil War, [page 59]
Third, the men remembered the frigid cold that they experienced the night of May 5 when they stood in formation.
Private John Neill of Company A remembered,
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| A Halt in Line of Battle copper plate edging, Edwin Forbes, 1876 |
Lieutenant John E. Michener of Company D summarized the 85th Pennsylvania's experience in a letter to a western Pennsylvania newspaper.
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Waynesburg (PA) Messenger 5-28-1862 |
